Adjustment – Part XIII
*'Faith, what's up?'
'Hey Katherine…'
'You get into a fight last night?'
'What?'
'You look pretty fucked up…'
'Oh… yeah, sorry, I'm kind of blown out.'
'So who'd you have a rumble with?'
'Nah… no ruckus, just a good lay…'
'Oh… kind of rough, don't you think?'
'It's how I like it.'
'Where you going?'
'Out.'
'You going to stop by later?'
'Yeah, sure…'
'That's what you said about last night.'
'Sorry… I just wasn't going to turn down a lay like that, you know.'
'Faith, you're really bruised up…'
'Yeah, like I said I like it-'
'Rough… right. I heard what you said and you're lying.'
'Excuse me?'
'Faith, who hit you?'
'I'll catch you later, alright?'
'Yeah, whatever.'*
*'Faith? Is that you?'
'Yeah,' she answered as she walked from the dark hallway into
her mother's small bedroom. She remained by the doorway just peering her head in quietly waiting to be yelled at or told to do something.
'Well… aren't you going to come in here? I don't bite…'
'Most of the time,' she answered immediately brightening up and walking towards her bed.
'Sit down you little firecracker,' she said tugging on her arm playfully. She climbed happily into the bed, which she forced herself to ignore reeked of whiskey and alcohol. She sat casually next to her on the bed facing her and just barely touching sides with her but basking in the closeness she could have on such a rare occasion.
'Where's Ricky?'
'Who cares,' she answered with a grin. The smile was certainly contagious as one immediately spread over Faith's face. 'You're hair's getting long – it's so beautiful…'
'Thanks…'
'It's wet… did you just shower?'
'Nah, I still have to… I just went swimming up by the quarry, you know up by the park.'
'Yeah, I know where about that is… I've been there a few times.'
'Oh yeah! You know that cliff way up high off the side of it?'
'Yeah, I do!'
'I jumped it!'
'No shit! That's my girl, Faith. Show them how it's done.'
'Yeah, all the other kids were too scared.'
'I bet you did it just fine.'
'Five by five, you know…'
'You'll have to take me some time to show me.'
'Can we go tomorrow? I could take you tomorrow and we could make a day out of it and it'd be so much fun and we could-'
'Yeah,' she cut her off with a laugh, 'we can go tomorrow, just calm down… you get awfully excited over simple things…'
'It's just we don't get to… you know, spend too much time together…'
'I know…'
'Mom? Mom… hey, Ma? You passed out or something? Mom? You awake? Mom?'*
The scene flashes quickly before my eyes before I'm able to stop myself from thinking about it and see her lying in blood soaked sheets where I'm sure she stayed for days on end. I slam my feet against the dashboard annoyed with myself for thinking about her. I haven't been able to think about her without seeing her dead body since the day it happened. Since the day it was time for me to suck it up and realize my innocence not only was gone but had really never existed. There was no denying that life was bad and it was only going to get worse and I was going to end up dead, alone and a loser.
I practically lose my shit as Xander slides the key into the drivers door and I hear it click open as he opens the door. I jump in my seat and turn to face him with a look that wasn't hiding anything as he looked me cautiously over.
"Are you alright?"
"Scared me, that's all."
"Sorry," he apologizes still looking at me and knowing something's wrong. He's still hurt by what I said, it's clearly written across his features but his concern is growing for me rapidly. I shrug off his apology and immediately act as though nothing's wrong.
"Hey, B! How's it hanging?"
"Hey, Faith," she answers with a groan sliding into the backseat of the car begrudgingly.
"Don't look so happy to see me," I answer her. "You look about as happy to see me now as you did when-"
"No need to refresh old memories," she said cutting me off quickly, which was fine since I was juggling with which time to say anyhow, unfortunately there had been a few.
"Life's nothing without the mems, B…" I add with a smile not caring whether anyone else in the car can catch onto the complete equivocation of my words.
"So how'd everything go on your little get away?" Xander said after a few moments of silence that filled the car uncomfortably.
"It was fine," she answered shortly.
"You sound beat," Xander suggested giving her an excuse for her uncalled for attitude.
"Yeah…" She could tell as soon as she saw Xander standing there in the airport waiting for her that things had started to roll forward between him and Faith. He had that same soft grin across his face and this newly worn pride and responsibility that he felt belonged to him now… God, didn't he learn anything the last time around? If there was any doubt in her mind that the two of them had finally slept together as soon as she saw the way he looked at her in the car, it was unmistakable.
Her complete indifference towards him and his concern that he wasted on her completely unmatched by his affectionate glances and heartfelt apologies. It was enough to make her sick… or at least rekindle some of the reasons she had come to truly not like Faith. Why was it that she could just walk into any situation and walk out with anything she wanted, including anyone she wanted? It just didn't seem right, or fair! She would get bored of him, if she hadn't already, and she would crush his heart exactly the way she did last time – hopefully excluding the attempted murder part, but that didn't make it completely out of the question.
---
"Hey," Faith greeted softly to Wood as she entered the kitchen.
"Hi, Faith," he said with a tint of surprise in his tone.
"What?"
"Nothing…" he answered with a grin seeing she wanted to talk a lot more than the last time he had tried. "So are you jumping out of your skin as much as Kennedy is?"
"Probably."
"When are you guys going to start patrolling again?"
"Giles said we're probably going to start training regularly again this week and maybe next week we'll start… there's not much action lately, I guess even the undead were a little shaken by the collapse of the hellmouth."
"Seems like everyone was sort of shaken… how are your bruises?"
"What?"
"Your bruises from the fight, you showed them to me…" he explained.
"Oh… yeah, they're gone."
"Good."
"I'll see you later," she finally added as she grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and walked towards her bedroom.
She walked into the room taking long sips from the Corona. She stopped short as she noticed Xander sitting on the edge of her bed looking over at her then quickly resumed as though she hadn't been slightly startled. She pulled off her leather jacket she was wearing and tossed it onto the bed behind where Xander was sitting then walked over to his side and held out her beer offering it to him. He took it cautiously, then, noticing her casualness sipped at it and watched her. She continued around the room nonchalantly stopping in front of the mirror and running a finger over her lips to smooth her lipstick. She sat down on a chair and unlaced her boots and pulled them off. She looked up at him from where she sat knowing she would meet his eyes immediately. She smiled seductively at him then stood and walked towards him.
"What exactly did you mean by meaningless?" he asked proving her words were still ringing in his ears. She sighed aloud as she looked down at him then moved closer and sat on his lap facing him with her knees bent on the bed and her arms draped over his shoulders. His body ached hungrily from the feeling of her body against his and he wanted nothing else than to have her again but the hurt that she was able to cause afterwards was still rooted inside of him. It occurred to him then that perhaps her harsh reactions were only a cause of her fear of the pain he could also inflict upon her afterwards! His brain immediately went blank as she lowered her lips to where they just barely touched his with her head cocked to the side as she answered,
"I just don't like being lied to…" With that she ended her sentence by finally pushing her lips against his in a hard, lustful kiss. On the brink of being taken by her lips captivating dance upon his he allowed her to kiss him but found the opportunity for closing it so he could answer her. He held her waist securely wanting to be sure she knew he still wanted her,
"Faith, I never lied to you."
"You don't love me," she answered nonchalantly with a smile lowering down and kissing him again. This time he abruptly ended the kiss and looked at her almost angrily,
"Yes, I do." She laughed again and answered,
"Don't be silly."
"Faith!"
"You're angry," she stated readjusting herself on top of him so she was pressed up against him even more. "I'll give you a way to vent… do whatever you want to this body. Hurt me," she stated teasing his lips with hers as she spoke. He could barely match the voice as her own as she spoke to him like this.
"Faith, what the hell are you talking about?" He pulled his face away from hers avoiding her lips as she motioned to kiss him again.
"No kissing… the whole intimacy thing, I get it," she answered plainly as she pulled her shirt off. She lowered down and ran her tongue up his neck until she reached his ear which she teased between her teeth.
"Faith, no. I'm not going to let you act this way," he said shaking his head and pushing her gently away by her waist. He didn't want her to think he was turning her down but he wasn't about to let her act as though she were with some masochistic asshole who didn't genuinely care about her.
"How do you want me to act then?" she asked as though she were just some hooker playing a role.
"How about you act like Faith?" he asked almost angrily.
"How do you know that I'm not?"
"I'm not in the mood for mind games."
"Doesn't seem like you're in the mood for much…" she groaned swinging her leg around and falling lazily onto the bed next to him.
"When I said I loved you I wasn't lying, but I don't enjoy being around you when you act like this," he stated bluntly stand up and heading for the door. He was utterly shocked when he heard her jump up after him and grab at his arm pleading him not to go.
"Don't leave," she said in a tone that had her practically begging.
"Then stop," he reprimanded. She looked up at him feeling like a little kid who just was scolded by their father – she was completely baffled at how often she felt like that around him. She couldn't help but connect that the only two men that she had ever really trusted had a very fatherly role in her life, which seemed so strange but an undeniable pattern.
"I'll stop," she agreed, her tone dropping any excessive, fake sexiness that she had added to it before. Her voice had that naturally and when she consciously added it, for some audiences it was great but sometimes it just seemed excessive. "Just don't leave…"
"What's bugging you?" he asked turning back towards her with a softer expression.
"Nothing new," she answered admitting he wasn't wrong without having to answer the question. She stood in front of him now holding his arm to make sure he didn't leave. He met her waist with his hand and without much encouragement he felt her draw herself closer to him and press up against him affectionately resting her head on his shoulder facing his neck. Her warm breath softly meeting the sensitive skin on his neck was reward enough for not giving up on her and creating a relationship. "Just don't leave," she muttered softly as though she had heard his thoughts from being so close to him.
"I'm not going anywhere," he answered as he ran his fingers over her hair.
---
"You sure shine up nice," Kennedy stated as she walked past Robin in the hallway. She stopped and looked him up and down carefully starting at the nicely fitted jeans, the hugging white shirt covered by a *nice* leather jacket.
"Thanks," he answered with a smile. The girls of the house were just surprising him left and right tonight… "Hopefully you won't be the only one to think so."
"You going out?"
"Yeah, I am." He gave her a last smile and headed towards the garage but stopped as she asked,
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Of course," he answered and she followed him to the garage.
"I'm not criticizing, that's my initial disclaimer since I've been told that I usually give off the impression that I am…"
"Okay," he answered clearly amused by her preface.
"Why did you stop things between you and Faith? This is purely out of curiosity and nothing else…"
"Purely?" he asked with a smile, "you mean Faith didn't send you out here to ask me? Since I'm sure she really cared…" he joked but clearly there was some truth to what he said.
"Completely selfish mission," she assured him.
"Well, I knew from the start that Faith had some issues she was dealing with, and so was I, which initially was what made me feel so connected with her and actually more comfortable around her, despite her constant efforts to disconnect herself. Honestly, once I got to know her more I realized we were too similar and we dealt with problems in very similar ways, which was only going to discourage her in the long run to deal with her problems. We were going to counterbalance each other too much and just allow one another to deal with issues, and really insecurities, in completely the wrong way because both of us really deal with them the same way."
"I think I get it," Kennedy answered appreciatively. He really had meant nothing but good for her in what he had done, and she really hoped Faith knew that. Well, if she didn't, she made a mental note to make sure she brought it up. "So where you going?" she asked as he moved towards the car again.
"To deal with my issues and insecurities in completely the wrong way," he answered with a smile as he got into the car. She smiled softly at him, knowing before she met Faith she wouldn't have understood what he meant, but now she was one hundred percent aware of what he meant.
---
"Hello, Buffy," Wendy greeted genially.
"Hey," she answered someone shortly.
"How was your vacation?" she asked sensing she was off about something.
"It was fine, thank you." Wendy noted she was in quite the mood and then it occurred to her that she couldn't think of much worse than a Slayer in a bad state. Then, as Faith walked into the kitchen she realized there was definitely something worse, it was two Slayers, one in a bad state and the other in what seemed to be a permanent foul mood with quite the dominating personality.
"Hey, B," Faith greeted as she walked into the kitchen, her presence enveloping the entire room, as Wendy had noted it always seemed to. "Hey there, Wendy," she greeted towards her with a slight raise of her chin and a soft smile. Wendy immediately said hello with a matching smile, slightly embarrassed by her childlike enthusiasm at being noticed by the Slayer. Faith seemed to have that affect on a lot of people…
Buffy was the one who was in charge and she carried that domineering air about her and people respected and listened to her almost undoubtedly. But it seemed that Faith was the one who everyone especially seemed to look up to and want to be friends with and be more like. Wendy figured it was probably because Faith made herself seem like somewhat of a touchable untouchable. She kept herself on everyone else's plane, whereas Buffy held herself a step above, but she always seemed to be just out of real grasp, therefore making her a touchable untouchable.
"Hey, is that a hicky on your neck?" Faith asked tilting her head to the side to get a better look at Buffy's neck. She immediately shrank under the glance shaking her head furiously back and forth,
"No!"
"Chill B, I was kidding," Faith assured backing off immediately sensing the tension and anger in Buffy's voice. "Sounds like that bottle needs uncorking again," she muttered.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing," Faith answered confidently holding her ground. "Just seems you're a little uptight… a girl like you should be smart enough than to act like that after being away to see your boy toy… might get the wheels going a bit," she teased.
"Time for me to kick your ass again, Faith?"
"Believe me, B, when that time comes it ain't gonna be you." She assured her holding her ground steadily but making it clear that she wasn't getting where Buffy's attitude was coming from, or why it seemed to be aimed towards her. "But, if a release is what you need I might be able to give you a few pointers-"
"Go to hell, Faith!"
"God, I was fucking joking!"
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you're just not funny anymore?"
"Do we have a problem here, B? Cause if we do, just let me know, okay?"
"You planning on dealing with it or something? Because that would be something," she mocked sarcastically.
"What can I say, I'm just full of surprises," Faith answered in a tone that clarified that she was refusing to get into a fight with Buffy but was not going to let her walk all over her, or anyone else for that matter.
"Yet so predictable," Buffy added obnoxiously as Xander walked into the kitchen behind Faith.
"Is everything okay in here?" Xander asked being able to taste the tension as he walked in.
"Just fine," Buffy answered motioning to leave but Faith stepped directly in front of her setting her gaze strongly down on the blonde,
"What's your beef?"
"Nothing, Faith…" she answered dismissingly.
"I thought we were past all this bullshit, B."
"Sorry, F, but the shit you've put me through, we're a long way running till it's in the past and kept there."
"If you've got something you want to say to me, then say it," she answered remaining calm throughout it all.
"If I had something to say to you, I would, believe me." With that Buffy motioned to push past Faith but realizing she wasn't going to move she glanced up at her and walked back a step then stepped around her. Faith firmly stood her ground maintaining her focus at a slightly downward eye contact at her.
"God, what'd you do?" Xander joked walking over to the fridge.
"You're so not funny."
"Really, what was all that about?"
"I have no idea," she answered with a shrug. "Did I do anything?" she asked Wendy.
"I didn't think so," Wendy answered, completely unsure herself of what had caused Buffy to be so aggressive. "Was it something I could've possibly done?"
"Nah," Faith assured her with a comforting smile, "me and Buffy have a history of not getting along… not for any real good reasons either." She walked over to the counter and slid her pack of cigarettes off of it quickly taking one out and lighting it. She slid onto the counter and sat on it facing Wendy and continued, "so the G-man treating you alright?"
"Giles?" she asked unsure if it were even possible to match her sophisticated and highly learned teacher to a nickname with implications referring to such things as 'G-man'.
"Yeah, he can be a hard ass sometimes…"
"He's actually quite amazing."
"Definitely not bad looking at all," Faith agreed.
"That's not what I meant," Wendy quickly clarified. Faith instantly laughed,
"Relax… I was kidding. I guess I'm really not funny anymore, huh?" Xander answered with a playful shrug. Wendy noticed the two of them and the body language they shared; strangely enough she thought Faith seemed a little more laid back around him. She always had a refreshing casualness around everyone, but at times it seemed forced, with Xander it actually seemed genuine and natural. "Why's she mad at me?"
"Forget it," Xander suggested, "she's entitled to her mood swing occasionally."
"Why does it bug me so much?"
---
"How can one person bug me so much?" Buffy whined to Willow. Kennedy allowed herself to be forgotten in the background wanting to be able to hear as much as possible straight from Buffy's mouth before she was censored by either Willow or her own realization that she was in fact present.
"Well, what did she do exactly?"
"Do I need to write out a list? Murder! Broke out of prison! Betrayed me! Hurt my friends and my family!"
"I meant more recently…"
"The list goes on up to present day," she assured her unable to think of a real answer.
"What's this about, Buffy?"
"It's about Faith!"
"You've been kind of…"
"Bitchy?" Kennedy voiced in from the closet doorway.
"Off!" Willow quickly corrected. "You've seemed off since you got back from L.A. Did everything go okay with Angel?"
"Oh, everything was just great!" she answered sardonically, "It was all, 'take care of Faith,' 'Faith's hurting,' 'She's not happy like you are…' 'You two used to be so close,' 'She really is a cool person,' 'Her and Xander are so good for each other.' God, if I have to see her again, I might just kill her myself!"
"Buffy, you're being a little…"
"God, I'm being a lot!" she admitted. "Why is it that Faith always seems to have that effect? She makes me act like the type of person I never want to become… it doesn't even seem to matter if it's because I'm with or against her either. I either become this selfish, egomaniac or I become too much like her!"
"Which some might still consider selfish and egomaniac-like," Willow joked. "I'm kidding, of course," she clarified glancing over at Kennedy's clearly unimpressed expression.
"And her and Xander! Am I the only one that doesn't think that Faith just had a revelation and wants to settle down and start a family? She's going to do nothing but hurt him…"
"What the hell is the matter with you!?" Kennedy finally asked angrily not able to just stay out of it anymore as they ripped Faith apart.
"Kennedy, you don't know her!"
"No, you're the one who doesn't know her!"
"Sweetie, don't-"
"Shut up!" she screamed in Willow's face, "don't sweetie me! Sure, I didn't know Faith when she went a little psycho, but hey, if I had friends like you guys with all this supportive talking behind my back about me actually being happy for once, I think I might've wigged a little too! But neither of you have ever talked to her… did it ever occur to you that-"
"Kennedy, you're out of line…"
"No Buffy, you're the one who's out of line. You can't stand the thought that maybe, just maybe, Faith's actually going to be happy despite everything. After all," she continued sarcastically, "you're better than she is and if someone deserves to have a honey they can snuggle with it's you… but hey, with everything you've been through I'm sure you need the comfort more than her anyway," she added with her words practically marinated in their own sardonic juices. With that, and a final look of disgust at both her lover and Buffy she grabbed her jacket off of the bed and walked out of the bedroom.
"She's a little defensive on the whole Faith topic," Willow added weakly after the echo of the slamming door faded.
"Her and Faith definitely share a few things in common… the whole bitch factor coming directly into mind."
"Buffy," Willow scolded softly. "I'm sure the fact that they're kind of similar means your feelings about them are somewhat similar but-"
"Will, Kennedy didn't betray me, kill innocent people, and hurt me and people I care about… she's still a long way away from the Faith category."
"She feels like her and Faith have a bond… a connection…"
"We all remember what happened to Xander when he thought he had a connection with her."
"Buff, I think we're being a little unfair… Faith bashing, hey I'm all for it, but only if it's for something recent."
"I just don't want to see Xander get hurt."
"Either do I, and yeah, I'm a little nervous about letting Faith play with him in the dark, but he's a big boy…"
"Bad visual image!" Buffy cried shaking her head in protest.
"Sorry," Willow said a smile finally coming across her face.
"I don't know why I let her get to me…" Buffy admitted the air easing itself as though it had finally been exhaled out of tightly held lungs.
"It's a nasty habit," Willow joked comfortingly sharing a friendly smile with her.
---
"Why the hell do I let her get to me like this?"
"Faith, I think you need to stop thinking…" Xander suggested. "She's Buffy… she has her mood swings, you gotta give her that."
"Why!?" she snapped, "when I act like that all of a sudden I'm criminally insane and need an attitude adjustment, which by the way, Buffy always seems to step up to do every time!"
"She always gets a little cranky when she comes back from Angel's…"
"I'm sorry, but you're supposed to be in a better mood after that… even I know that one."
"She-" he stopped abruptly hearing the door leading to the garage slam loudly. Hell, it must've been loud since they were in Faith's bedroom and they heard it. "Who was that?"
"Just for the record, seeing through walls and stuff doesn't come with the Slayer package, but once I'm tight with the Council again I'll be sure to drop it in their suggestion box," she answered sarcastically fully equipped with her characteristically fitting hand gestures and expressions. He couldn't help but smile since lately he was beginning to see bits of the old Faith shining through that steal wall she had set up between herself and the world around her, and it wasn't the bad old Faith, it was the very fun, personable, and captivating girl that made everyone around her want nothing more than to just hang out and feel at ease.
---
"What's going on?" Giles asked walking into the living room to see Wendy sitting peacefully behind a book and Andrew playing his gameboy squirming and bouncing around on the couch as though he were inside the plastic piece. "Who was that?" he asked motioning his hand towards the door.
"Dawn walked down the stairs looking all mad," Andrew explained. He returned to playing the game but just as Giles turned to leave the living room he glanced up and added, "Kennedy was the one who left though…" Giles sighed and rolled his eyes and heard Andrew call after him, "you're welcome!" He walked into the kitchen to see Dawn who was now rummaging through the refrigerator.
"Is everything alright, Dawn?"
"Yeah, I'm just getting frustrated with a translation I'm doing online…"
"Probably good that you're taking a rest at it then," he said with a content smile as he took a sip from his tea. "Do you know where Kennedy was off to?"
"She said she was going out… she needed somewhere to get her mind off of things."
"So in old people language?" Giles asked with a smile.
"Probably a club of some sort… she showed me her fake ID yesterday, it's so cool!"
"She has a false identification card?" he asked quickly.
"Umm… it's real," she tried to cover even though she was completely obvious.
"So she went to a club of some sort, probably to get smashed, is what you mean by getting her mind off of things…"
"I guess," Dawn answered with a shrug knowing she had already blown Kennedy's cover.
"Damn slayers," Giles muttered under his breath as he walked quickly towards Faith's bedroom. He entered without even a pause at the door and silently chided himself as he did so. Thankfully as he walked in he saw both Faith and Xander fully clothed, even if she was sitting on his lap on the bed.
"Faith-"
"We could've been fucking you know!?" Faith said cutting him off.
"Well more of a show for me, I suppose," he answered quickly wanting to get back to why he came in the first place.
"Guess you might learn something," she added but then she looked him up and down carefully with a questioning grin coming over her face, "although, maybe not…"
"Faith, Kennedy went out."
"And?" she asked completely blank as to why it was necessary for her to be informed of such.
"Drinking…" he added, suddenly realizing how old he sounded. "I'd like you to keep an eye on her, if you would…"
"Giles, the kid went out, that's no big. Hell, I was going out when I was like twelve…" After a moment of pause where she thought over all the things she had done and all of the trouble she had gotten into in all the nights she went out since she was twelve she got up off of Xander's lap and off the bed adding, "We'll go watch her."
"Thank you."
---
After probably stopping at eleven of the twelve bar/clubs in the fifty mile radius they walked into a large establishment with neon lights around the large dance floor and by the bar with strobe lights and probably about a hundred and fifty people. Xander followed a pace behind Faith who was walking slowly but as though she knew exactly where she was headed and she seemed to be taking a good look at absolutely every person in the place, just in case. As she made mental profiles of everyone he spent most of his time looking her over. She had on a *tight* pair of black leather pants and a blood red, strapless shirt on cloaked by a leather jacket. She stopped, not suddenly but he had to stop short since he was distracted by her… outfit.
"What's up?"
"She's over there," she answered only motioning with her eyes. She smiled seeing that she didn't just have one guy talking to her and flirting with her, but she had three. "That's my girl," Faith said with a grin walking to a nearby table that was far enough away from the bar that Kennedy probably wouldn't look over at them but they could keep a close enough eye on her.
"Hey, isn't she gay?" Xander asked, it finally hitting him as they sat.
"I've flirt with girls, and I'm not…"
"Just flirt?" She shrugged innocently at his questioning gaze then bit at her lower lip gently. "So this can't technically be called cheating then…"
"Boy, if you think flirting accounts for cheating, we're going to have a little problem here," she noted only half jokingly.
"Can I get you guys something to drink?" A passing waiter asked politely.
"A Jack and Coke would be great, thanks," Faith answered. "And easy on the Coke…"
"I'll have a beer... you guys have Corona, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thanks."
"Man, for a girl who doesn't like dick she sure can handle it."
"I never do get over how soft spoken you are…" He got an eye roll for that one, but it was followed by a grin. Four rounds of drink later Faith slammed her glass down on the table in frustration,
"God, would one of them just take her somewhere to fuck already? We'd get to stop babysitting a lot faster…"
"Faith! I thought we were here to make sure that didn't happen…"
"No, we're here to make sure that doesn't happen," she said her eyes suddenly becoming intensely focused on Kennedy. Xander quickly looked over at her but saw nothing different,
"What?"
"The guy on the right just put something in her drink," she answered quickly getting up out of her seat.
"Faith, slow down… are you sure?"
"I'm completely sure. Now I get to kick some ass…"
"No, there will be no kicking of human ass! Faith, I thought we'd gotten older and wiser on these matters…" he said following after her through the crowds towards Kennedy. The place had easily gained another two hundred people since they had arrived and it made it hard to make any headway. They were still closer to their table then to Kennedy as Faith watched her down the shot in which she saw the guy put something in.
"She drank it!" Xander could hear the hint of panic in her voice so he decided it best to be optimistic rather than continue to curb her.
"It's okay," he answered squeezing her arm comfortingly as they continued to inch towards her.
"Yo, move the fuck out of the way," Faith finally started to yell at people. Albeit the dirty looks, the seas began to part.
"Faith, I don't see her…" Xander called over to her over the roaring music as they got closer to both where Kennedy had been sitting and the dance floor.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," she started to say non-stop still attempting to mask her panic.
"Come on," he said grabbing her hand and leading her over towards the side exit that was closest. He saw the look in her eyes and he could tell she was starting to shut down – this was probably one of those things Buffy had been talking about, when Faith just blocks everything out and begins to completely fold. She wasn't acting that way yet, but any other time she would've been dragging him towards the closest exit, now she hadn't even found it before he was pulling her towards it. Xander was almost sure he had chosen the right door as they were deposited into a dark alley, probably at the back of the club. To the left was the main street about a blocks length of alley down and to the right it was dim and didn't seem to lead anywhere. Needless to say, they went right.
*'Faith, what's up?'
'Hey Katherine…'
'You get into a fight last night?'
'What?'
'You look pretty fucked up…'
'Oh… yeah, sorry, I'm kind of blown out.'
'So who'd you have a rumble with?'
'Nah… no ruckus, just a good lay…'
'Oh… kind of rough, don't you think?'
'It's how I like it.'
'Where you going?'
'Out.'
'You going to stop by later?'
'Yeah, sure…'
'That's what you said about last night.'
'Sorry… I just wasn't going to turn down a lay like that, you know.'
'Faith, you're really bruised up…'
'Yeah, like I said I like it-'
'Rough… right. I heard what you said and you're lying.'
'Excuse me?'
'Faith, who hit you?'
'I'll catch you later, alright?'
'Yeah, whatever.'*
*'Faith? Is that you?'
'Yeah,' she answered as she walked from the dark hallway into
her mother's small bedroom. She remained by the doorway just peering her head in quietly waiting to be yelled at or told to do something.
'Well… aren't you going to come in here? I don't bite…'
'Most of the time,' she answered immediately brightening up and walking towards her bed.
'Sit down you little firecracker,' she said tugging on her arm playfully. She climbed happily into the bed, which she forced herself to ignore reeked of whiskey and alcohol. She sat casually next to her on the bed facing her and just barely touching sides with her but basking in the closeness she could have on such a rare occasion.
'Where's Ricky?'
'Who cares,' she answered with a grin. The smile was certainly contagious as one immediately spread over Faith's face. 'You're hair's getting long – it's so beautiful…'
'Thanks…'
'It's wet… did you just shower?'
'Nah, I still have to… I just went swimming up by the quarry, you know up by the park.'
'Yeah, I know where about that is… I've been there a few times.'
'Oh yeah! You know that cliff way up high off the side of it?'
'Yeah, I do!'
'I jumped it!'
'No shit! That's my girl, Faith. Show them how it's done.'
'Yeah, all the other kids were too scared.'
'I bet you did it just fine.'
'Five by five, you know…'
'You'll have to take me some time to show me.'
'Can we go tomorrow? I could take you tomorrow and we could make a day out of it and it'd be so much fun and we could-'
'Yeah,' she cut her off with a laugh, 'we can go tomorrow, just calm down… you get awfully excited over simple things…'
'It's just we don't get to… you know, spend too much time together…'
'I know…'
'Mom? Mom… hey, Ma? You passed out or something? Mom? You awake? Mom?'*
The scene flashes quickly before my eyes before I'm able to stop myself from thinking about it and see her lying in blood soaked sheets where I'm sure she stayed for days on end. I slam my feet against the dashboard annoyed with myself for thinking about her. I haven't been able to think about her without seeing her dead body since the day it happened. Since the day it was time for me to suck it up and realize my innocence not only was gone but had really never existed. There was no denying that life was bad and it was only going to get worse and I was going to end up dead, alone and a loser.
I practically lose my shit as Xander slides the key into the drivers door and I hear it click open as he opens the door. I jump in my seat and turn to face him with a look that wasn't hiding anything as he looked me cautiously over.
"Are you alright?"
"Scared me, that's all."
"Sorry," he apologizes still looking at me and knowing something's wrong. He's still hurt by what I said, it's clearly written across his features but his concern is growing for me rapidly. I shrug off his apology and immediately act as though nothing's wrong.
"Hey, B! How's it hanging?"
"Hey, Faith," she answers with a groan sliding into the backseat of the car begrudgingly.
"Don't look so happy to see me," I answer her. "You look about as happy to see me now as you did when-"
"No need to refresh old memories," she said cutting me off quickly, which was fine since I was juggling with which time to say anyhow, unfortunately there had been a few.
"Life's nothing without the mems, B…" I add with a smile not caring whether anyone else in the car can catch onto the complete equivocation of my words.
"So how'd everything go on your little get away?" Xander said after a few moments of silence that filled the car uncomfortably.
"It was fine," she answered shortly.
"You sound beat," Xander suggested giving her an excuse for her uncalled for attitude.
"Yeah…" She could tell as soon as she saw Xander standing there in the airport waiting for her that things had started to roll forward between him and Faith. He had that same soft grin across his face and this newly worn pride and responsibility that he felt belonged to him now… God, didn't he learn anything the last time around? If there was any doubt in her mind that the two of them had finally slept together as soon as she saw the way he looked at her in the car, it was unmistakable.
Her complete indifference towards him and his concern that he wasted on her completely unmatched by his affectionate glances and heartfelt apologies. It was enough to make her sick… or at least rekindle some of the reasons she had come to truly not like Faith. Why was it that she could just walk into any situation and walk out with anything she wanted, including anyone she wanted? It just didn't seem right, or fair! She would get bored of him, if she hadn't already, and she would crush his heart exactly the way she did last time – hopefully excluding the attempted murder part, but that didn't make it completely out of the question.
---
"Hey," Faith greeted softly to Wood as she entered the kitchen.
"Hi, Faith," he said with a tint of surprise in his tone.
"What?"
"Nothing…" he answered with a grin seeing she wanted to talk a lot more than the last time he had tried. "So are you jumping out of your skin as much as Kennedy is?"
"Probably."
"When are you guys going to start patrolling again?"
"Giles said we're probably going to start training regularly again this week and maybe next week we'll start… there's not much action lately, I guess even the undead were a little shaken by the collapse of the hellmouth."
"Seems like everyone was sort of shaken… how are your bruises?"
"What?"
"Your bruises from the fight, you showed them to me…" he explained.
"Oh… yeah, they're gone."
"Good."
"I'll see you later," she finally added as she grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and walked towards her bedroom.
She walked into the room taking long sips from the Corona. She stopped short as she noticed Xander sitting on the edge of her bed looking over at her then quickly resumed as though she hadn't been slightly startled. She pulled off her leather jacket she was wearing and tossed it onto the bed behind where Xander was sitting then walked over to his side and held out her beer offering it to him. He took it cautiously, then, noticing her casualness sipped at it and watched her. She continued around the room nonchalantly stopping in front of the mirror and running a finger over her lips to smooth her lipstick. She sat down on a chair and unlaced her boots and pulled them off. She looked up at him from where she sat knowing she would meet his eyes immediately. She smiled seductively at him then stood and walked towards him.
"What exactly did you mean by meaningless?" he asked proving her words were still ringing in his ears. She sighed aloud as she looked down at him then moved closer and sat on his lap facing him with her knees bent on the bed and her arms draped over his shoulders. His body ached hungrily from the feeling of her body against his and he wanted nothing else than to have her again but the hurt that she was able to cause afterwards was still rooted inside of him. It occurred to him then that perhaps her harsh reactions were only a cause of her fear of the pain he could also inflict upon her afterwards! His brain immediately went blank as she lowered her lips to where they just barely touched his with her head cocked to the side as she answered,
"I just don't like being lied to…" With that she ended her sentence by finally pushing her lips against his in a hard, lustful kiss. On the brink of being taken by her lips captivating dance upon his he allowed her to kiss him but found the opportunity for closing it so he could answer her. He held her waist securely wanting to be sure she knew he still wanted her,
"Faith, I never lied to you."
"You don't love me," she answered nonchalantly with a smile lowering down and kissing him again. This time he abruptly ended the kiss and looked at her almost angrily,
"Yes, I do." She laughed again and answered,
"Don't be silly."
"Faith!"
"You're angry," she stated readjusting herself on top of him so she was pressed up against him even more. "I'll give you a way to vent… do whatever you want to this body. Hurt me," she stated teasing his lips with hers as she spoke. He could barely match the voice as her own as she spoke to him like this.
"Faith, what the hell are you talking about?" He pulled his face away from hers avoiding her lips as she motioned to kiss him again.
"No kissing… the whole intimacy thing, I get it," she answered plainly as she pulled her shirt off. She lowered down and ran her tongue up his neck until she reached his ear which she teased between her teeth.
"Faith, no. I'm not going to let you act this way," he said shaking his head and pushing her gently away by her waist. He didn't want her to think he was turning her down but he wasn't about to let her act as though she were with some masochistic asshole who didn't genuinely care about her.
"How do you want me to act then?" she asked as though she were just some hooker playing a role.
"How about you act like Faith?" he asked almost angrily.
"How do you know that I'm not?"
"I'm not in the mood for mind games."
"Doesn't seem like you're in the mood for much…" she groaned swinging her leg around and falling lazily onto the bed next to him.
"When I said I loved you I wasn't lying, but I don't enjoy being around you when you act like this," he stated bluntly stand up and heading for the door. He was utterly shocked when he heard her jump up after him and grab at his arm pleading him not to go.
"Don't leave," she said in a tone that had her practically begging.
"Then stop," he reprimanded. She looked up at him feeling like a little kid who just was scolded by their father – she was completely baffled at how often she felt like that around him. She couldn't help but connect that the only two men that she had ever really trusted had a very fatherly role in her life, which seemed so strange but an undeniable pattern.
"I'll stop," she agreed, her tone dropping any excessive, fake sexiness that she had added to it before. Her voice had that naturally and when she consciously added it, for some audiences it was great but sometimes it just seemed excessive. "Just don't leave…"
"What's bugging you?" he asked turning back towards her with a softer expression.
"Nothing new," she answered admitting he wasn't wrong without having to answer the question. She stood in front of him now holding his arm to make sure he didn't leave. He met her waist with his hand and without much encouragement he felt her draw herself closer to him and press up against him affectionately resting her head on his shoulder facing his neck. Her warm breath softly meeting the sensitive skin on his neck was reward enough for not giving up on her and creating a relationship. "Just don't leave," she muttered softly as though she had heard his thoughts from being so close to him.
"I'm not going anywhere," he answered as he ran his fingers over her hair.
---
"You sure shine up nice," Kennedy stated as she walked past Robin in the hallway. She stopped and looked him up and down carefully starting at the nicely fitted jeans, the hugging white shirt covered by a *nice* leather jacket.
"Thanks," he answered with a smile. The girls of the house were just surprising him left and right tonight… "Hopefully you won't be the only one to think so."
"You going out?"
"Yeah, I am." He gave her a last smile and headed towards the garage but stopped as she asked,
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Of course," he answered and she followed him to the garage.
"I'm not criticizing, that's my initial disclaimer since I've been told that I usually give off the impression that I am…"
"Okay," he answered clearly amused by her preface.
"Why did you stop things between you and Faith? This is purely out of curiosity and nothing else…"
"Purely?" he asked with a smile, "you mean Faith didn't send you out here to ask me? Since I'm sure she really cared…" he joked but clearly there was some truth to what he said.
"Completely selfish mission," she assured him.
"Well, I knew from the start that Faith had some issues she was dealing with, and so was I, which initially was what made me feel so connected with her and actually more comfortable around her, despite her constant efforts to disconnect herself. Honestly, once I got to know her more I realized we were too similar and we dealt with problems in very similar ways, which was only going to discourage her in the long run to deal with her problems. We were going to counterbalance each other too much and just allow one another to deal with issues, and really insecurities, in completely the wrong way because both of us really deal with them the same way."
"I think I get it," Kennedy answered appreciatively. He really had meant nothing but good for her in what he had done, and she really hoped Faith knew that. Well, if she didn't, she made a mental note to make sure she brought it up. "So where you going?" she asked as he moved towards the car again.
"To deal with my issues and insecurities in completely the wrong way," he answered with a smile as he got into the car. She smiled softly at him, knowing before she met Faith she wouldn't have understood what he meant, but now she was one hundred percent aware of what he meant.
---
"Hello, Buffy," Wendy greeted genially.
"Hey," she answered someone shortly.
"How was your vacation?" she asked sensing she was off about something.
"It was fine, thank you." Wendy noted she was in quite the mood and then it occurred to her that she couldn't think of much worse than a Slayer in a bad state. Then, as Faith walked into the kitchen she realized there was definitely something worse, it was two Slayers, one in a bad state and the other in what seemed to be a permanent foul mood with quite the dominating personality.
"Hey, B," Faith greeted as she walked into the kitchen, her presence enveloping the entire room, as Wendy had noted it always seemed to. "Hey there, Wendy," she greeted towards her with a slight raise of her chin and a soft smile. Wendy immediately said hello with a matching smile, slightly embarrassed by her childlike enthusiasm at being noticed by the Slayer. Faith seemed to have that affect on a lot of people…
Buffy was the one who was in charge and she carried that domineering air about her and people respected and listened to her almost undoubtedly. But it seemed that Faith was the one who everyone especially seemed to look up to and want to be friends with and be more like. Wendy figured it was probably because Faith made herself seem like somewhat of a touchable untouchable. She kept herself on everyone else's plane, whereas Buffy held herself a step above, but she always seemed to be just out of real grasp, therefore making her a touchable untouchable.
"Hey, is that a hicky on your neck?" Faith asked tilting her head to the side to get a better look at Buffy's neck. She immediately shrank under the glance shaking her head furiously back and forth,
"No!"
"Chill B, I was kidding," Faith assured backing off immediately sensing the tension and anger in Buffy's voice. "Sounds like that bottle needs uncorking again," she muttered.
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing," Faith answered confidently holding her ground. "Just seems you're a little uptight… a girl like you should be smart enough than to act like that after being away to see your boy toy… might get the wheels going a bit," she teased.
"Time for me to kick your ass again, Faith?"
"Believe me, B, when that time comes it ain't gonna be you." She assured her holding her ground steadily but making it clear that she wasn't getting where Buffy's attitude was coming from, or why it seemed to be aimed towards her. "But, if a release is what you need I might be able to give you a few pointers-"
"Go to hell, Faith!"
"God, I was fucking joking!"
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you're just not funny anymore?"
"Do we have a problem here, B? Cause if we do, just let me know, okay?"
"You planning on dealing with it or something? Because that would be something," she mocked sarcastically.
"What can I say, I'm just full of surprises," Faith answered in a tone that clarified that she was refusing to get into a fight with Buffy but was not going to let her walk all over her, or anyone else for that matter.
"Yet so predictable," Buffy added obnoxiously as Xander walked into the kitchen behind Faith.
"Is everything okay in here?" Xander asked being able to taste the tension as he walked in.
"Just fine," Buffy answered motioning to leave but Faith stepped directly in front of her setting her gaze strongly down on the blonde,
"What's your beef?"
"Nothing, Faith…" she answered dismissingly.
"I thought we were past all this bullshit, B."
"Sorry, F, but the shit you've put me through, we're a long way running till it's in the past and kept there."
"If you've got something you want to say to me, then say it," she answered remaining calm throughout it all.
"If I had something to say to you, I would, believe me." With that Buffy motioned to push past Faith but realizing she wasn't going to move she glanced up at her and walked back a step then stepped around her. Faith firmly stood her ground maintaining her focus at a slightly downward eye contact at her.
"God, what'd you do?" Xander joked walking over to the fridge.
"You're so not funny."
"Really, what was all that about?"
"I have no idea," she answered with a shrug. "Did I do anything?" she asked Wendy.
"I didn't think so," Wendy answered, completely unsure herself of what had caused Buffy to be so aggressive. "Was it something I could've possibly done?"
"Nah," Faith assured her with a comforting smile, "me and Buffy have a history of not getting along… not for any real good reasons either." She walked over to the counter and slid her pack of cigarettes off of it quickly taking one out and lighting it. She slid onto the counter and sat on it facing Wendy and continued, "so the G-man treating you alright?"
"Giles?" she asked unsure if it were even possible to match her sophisticated and highly learned teacher to a nickname with implications referring to such things as 'G-man'.
"Yeah, he can be a hard ass sometimes…"
"He's actually quite amazing."
"Definitely not bad looking at all," Faith agreed.
"That's not what I meant," Wendy quickly clarified. Faith instantly laughed,
"Relax… I was kidding. I guess I'm really not funny anymore, huh?" Xander answered with a playful shrug. Wendy noticed the two of them and the body language they shared; strangely enough she thought Faith seemed a little more laid back around him. She always had a refreshing casualness around everyone, but at times it seemed forced, with Xander it actually seemed genuine and natural. "Why's she mad at me?"
"Forget it," Xander suggested, "she's entitled to her mood swing occasionally."
"Why does it bug me so much?"
---
"How can one person bug me so much?" Buffy whined to Willow. Kennedy allowed herself to be forgotten in the background wanting to be able to hear as much as possible straight from Buffy's mouth before she was censored by either Willow or her own realization that she was in fact present.
"Well, what did she do exactly?"
"Do I need to write out a list? Murder! Broke out of prison! Betrayed me! Hurt my friends and my family!"
"I meant more recently…"
"The list goes on up to present day," she assured her unable to think of a real answer.
"What's this about, Buffy?"
"It's about Faith!"
"You've been kind of…"
"Bitchy?" Kennedy voiced in from the closet doorway.
"Off!" Willow quickly corrected. "You've seemed off since you got back from L.A. Did everything go okay with Angel?"
"Oh, everything was just great!" she answered sardonically, "It was all, 'take care of Faith,' 'Faith's hurting,' 'She's not happy like you are…' 'You two used to be so close,' 'She really is a cool person,' 'Her and Xander are so good for each other.' God, if I have to see her again, I might just kill her myself!"
"Buffy, you're being a little…"
"God, I'm being a lot!" she admitted. "Why is it that Faith always seems to have that effect? She makes me act like the type of person I never want to become… it doesn't even seem to matter if it's because I'm with or against her either. I either become this selfish, egomaniac or I become too much like her!"
"Which some might still consider selfish and egomaniac-like," Willow joked. "I'm kidding, of course," she clarified glancing over at Kennedy's clearly unimpressed expression.
"And her and Xander! Am I the only one that doesn't think that Faith just had a revelation and wants to settle down and start a family? She's going to do nothing but hurt him…"
"What the hell is the matter with you!?" Kennedy finally asked angrily not able to just stay out of it anymore as they ripped Faith apart.
"Kennedy, you don't know her!"
"No, you're the one who doesn't know her!"
"Sweetie, don't-"
"Shut up!" she screamed in Willow's face, "don't sweetie me! Sure, I didn't know Faith when she went a little psycho, but hey, if I had friends like you guys with all this supportive talking behind my back about me actually being happy for once, I think I might've wigged a little too! But neither of you have ever talked to her… did it ever occur to you that-"
"Kennedy, you're out of line…"
"No Buffy, you're the one who's out of line. You can't stand the thought that maybe, just maybe, Faith's actually going to be happy despite everything. After all," she continued sarcastically, "you're better than she is and if someone deserves to have a honey they can snuggle with it's you… but hey, with everything you've been through I'm sure you need the comfort more than her anyway," she added with her words practically marinated in their own sardonic juices. With that, and a final look of disgust at both her lover and Buffy she grabbed her jacket off of the bed and walked out of the bedroom.
"She's a little defensive on the whole Faith topic," Willow added weakly after the echo of the slamming door faded.
"Her and Faith definitely share a few things in common… the whole bitch factor coming directly into mind."
"Buffy," Willow scolded softly. "I'm sure the fact that they're kind of similar means your feelings about them are somewhat similar but-"
"Will, Kennedy didn't betray me, kill innocent people, and hurt me and people I care about… she's still a long way away from the Faith category."
"She feels like her and Faith have a bond… a connection…"
"We all remember what happened to Xander when he thought he had a connection with her."
"Buff, I think we're being a little unfair… Faith bashing, hey I'm all for it, but only if it's for something recent."
"I just don't want to see Xander get hurt."
"Either do I, and yeah, I'm a little nervous about letting Faith play with him in the dark, but he's a big boy…"
"Bad visual image!" Buffy cried shaking her head in protest.
"Sorry," Willow said a smile finally coming across her face.
"I don't know why I let her get to me…" Buffy admitted the air easing itself as though it had finally been exhaled out of tightly held lungs.
"It's a nasty habit," Willow joked comfortingly sharing a friendly smile with her.
---
"Why the hell do I let her get to me like this?"
"Faith, I think you need to stop thinking…" Xander suggested. "She's Buffy… she has her mood swings, you gotta give her that."
"Why!?" she snapped, "when I act like that all of a sudden I'm criminally insane and need an attitude adjustment, which by the way, Buffy always seems to step up to do every time!"
"She always gets a little cranky when she comes back from Angel's…"
"I'm sorry, but you're supposed to be in a better mood after that… even I know that one."
"She-" he stopped abruptly hearing the door leading to the garage slam loudly. Hell, it must've been loud since they were in Faith's bedroom and they heard it. "Who was that?"
"Just for the record, seeing through walls and stuff doesn't come with the Slayer package, but once I'm tight with the Council again I'll be sure to drop it in their suggestion box," she answered sarcastically fully equipped with her characteristically fitting hand gestures and expressions. He couldn't help but smile since lately he was beginning to see bits of the old Faith shining through that steal wall she had set up between herself and the world around her, and it wasn't the bad old Faith, it was the very fun, personable, and captivating girl that made everyone around her want nothing more than to just hang out and feel at ease.
---
"What's going on?" Giles asked walking into the living room to see Wendy sitting peacefully behind a book and Andrew playing his gameboy squirming and bouncing around on the couch as though he were inside the plastic piece. "Who was that?" he asked motioning his hand towards the door.
"Dawn walked down the stairs looking all mad," Andrew explained. He returned to playing the game but just as Giles turned to leave the living room he glanced up and added, "Kennedy was the one who left though…" Giles sighed and rolled his eyes and heard Andrew call after him, "you're welcome!" He walked into the kitchen to see Dawn who was now rummaging through the refrigerator.
"Is everything alright, Dawn?"
"Yeah, I'm just getting frustrated with a translation I'm doing online…"
"Probably good that you're taking a rest at it then," he said with a content smile as he took a sip from his tea. "Do you know where Kennedy was off to?"
"She said she was going out… she needed somewhere to get her mind off of things."
"So in old people language?" Giles asked with a smile.
"Probably a club of some sort… she showed me her fake ID yesterday, it's so cool!"
"She has a false identification card?" he asked quickly.
"Umm… it's real," she tried to cover even though she was completely obvious.
"So she went to a club of some sort, probably to get smashed, is what you mean by getting her mind off of things…"
"I guess," Dawn answered with a shrug knowing she had already blown Kennedy's cover.
"Damn slayers," Giles muttered under his breath as he walked quickly towards Faith's bedroom. He entered without even a pause at the door and silently chided himself as he did so. Thankfully as he walked in he saw both Faith and Xander fully clothed, even if she was sitting on his lap on the bed.
"Faith-"
"We could've been fucking you know!?" Faith said cutting him off.
"Well more of a show for me, I suppose," he answered quickly wanting to get back to why he came in the first place.
"Guess you might learn something," she added but then she looked him up and down carefully with a questioning grin coming over her face, "although, maybe not…"
"Faith, Kennedy went out."
"And?" she asked completely blank as to why it was necessary for her to be informed of such.
"Drinking…" he added, suddenly realizing how old he sounded. "I'd like you to keep an eye on her, if you would…"
"Giles, the kid went out, that's no big. Hell, I was going out when I was like twelve…" After a moment of pause where she thought over all the things she had done and all of the trouble she had gotten into in all the nights she went out since she was twelve she got up off of Xander's lap and off the bed adding, "We'll go watch her."
"Thank you."
---
After probably stopping at eleven of the twelve bar/clubs in the fifty mile radius they walked into a large establishment with neon lights around the large dance floor and by the bar with strobe lights and probably about a hundred and fifty people. Xander followed a pace behind Faith who was walking slowly but as though she knew exactly where she was headed and she seemed to be taking a good look at absolutely every person in the place, just in case. As she made mental profiles of everyone he spent most of his time looking her over. She had on a *tight* pair of black leather pants and a blood red, strapless shirt on cloaked by a leather jacket. She stopped, not suddenly but he had to stop short since he was distracted by her… outfit.
"What's up?"
"She's over there," she answered only motioning with her eyes. She smiled seeing that she didn't just have one guy talking to her and flirting with her, but she had three. "That's my girl," Faith said with a grin walking to a nearby table that was far enough away from the bar that Kennedy probably wouldn't look over at them but they could keep a close enough eye on her.
"Hey, isn't she gay?" Xander asked, it finally hitting him as they sat.
"I've flirt with girls, and I'm not…"
"Just flirt?" She shrugged innocently at his questioning gaze then bit at her lower lip gently. "So this can't technically be called cheating then…"
"Boy, if you think flirting accounts for cheating, we're going to have a little problem here," she noted only half jokingly.
"Can I get you guys something to drink?" A passing waiter asked politely.
"A Jack and Coke would be great, thanks," Faith answered. "And easy on the Coke…"
"I'll have a beer... you guys have Corona, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thanks."
"Man, for a girl who doesn't like dick she sure can handle it."
"I never do get over how soft spoken you are…" He got an eye roll for that one, but it was followed by a grin. Four rounds of drink later Faith slammed her glass down on the table in frustration,
"God, would one of them just take her somewhere to fuck already? We'd get to stop babysitting a lot faster…"
"Faith! I thought we were here to make sure that didn't happen…"
"No, we're here to make sure that doesn't happen," she said her eyes suddenly becoming intensely focused on Kennedy. Xander quickly looked over at her but saw nothing different,
"What?"
"The guy on the right just put something in her drink," she answered quickly getting up out of her seat.
"Faith, slow down… are you sure?"
"I'm completely sure. Now I get to kick some ass…"
"No, there will be no kicking of human ass! Faith, I thought we'd gotten older and wiser on these matters…" he said following after her through the crowds towards Kennedy. The place had easily gained another two hundred people since they had arrived and it made it hard to make any headway. They were still closer to their table then to Kennedy as Faith watched her down the shot in which she saw the guy put something in.
"She drank it!" Xander could hear the hint of panic in her voice so he decided it best to be optimistic rather than continue to curb her.
"It's okay," he answered squeezing her arm comfortingly as they continued to inch towards her.
"Yo, move the fuck out of the way," Faith finally started to yell at people. Albeit the dirty looks, the seas began to part.
"Faith, I don't see her…" Xander called over to her over the roaring music as they got closer to both where Kennedy had been sitting and the dance floor.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," she started to say non-stop still attempting to mask her panic.
"Come on," he said grabbing her hand and leading her over towards the side exit that was closest. He saw the look in her eyes and he could tell she was starting to shut down – this was probably one of those things Buffy had been talking about, when Faith just blocks everything out and begins to completely fold. She wasn't acting that way yet, but any other time she would've been dragging him towards the closest exit, now she hadn't even found it before he was pulling her towards it. Xander was almost sure he had chosen the right door as they were deposited into a dark alley, probably at the back of the club. To the left was the main street about a blocks length of alley down and to the right it was dim and didn't seem to lead anywhere. Needless to say, they went right.